The international community will do everything to ensure that those responsible for violating human rights in the occupied Crimea are punished, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said.

"We are deeply concerned about human rights violations in the Crimea peninsula, the disappearances, the torture, the killings, the persecution of Crimean Tatars, the intimidation and incarceration of journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders... The EU will tightly work with Ukrainian authorities and our partners to expose these violations, to hold those responsible accountable and to support the victims," von der Leyen said at the Second Summit of Crimea Platform, which takes place online on Tuesday.

The President of the European Commission said Crimea, annexed by Russia since 2014, has been used by the occupiers not only as a military base, but also as a testing ground for cruel methods that "Russia is now applying across the other occupied parts of Ukraine."